Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Have I really only posted two recipes this month? Oh goodness, I'm sorry! My handsome husband and I have been having too much fun and I've been away from the kitchen. We've been busy enjoying ourselves camping and fishing, two graduations, and playing with visiting family. I've got new recipes planned for the rest of this week so keep your fingers crossed that they turn out yummy so I can share them with you!

Speaking of camping, here is the tin foil dinner that I made during our last camping trip. It's not a true recipe, just more of an idea for you. You do the majority of the cooking before you wrap them up, so 20-30 minutes in the coals is just right. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
hamburger patties - We made each hamburger patty about 1/3 lb. You're always hungry after setting up camp. Nate seasoned them with some steak seasoning and grilled them to about medium. That way they'll finish cooking in the fire without drying out.

potatoes - I used my Garlic and Butter Roasted Potatoes recipe. Potatoes are the item that take the longest to cook in a tin foil dinner, so I go ahead and cook them all the way. That way they only need to heat up at the campsite.

veggies - I sliced up some onion and carrot, sauteed them in a tiny bit of olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper. I just cooked them for a couple minutes. They will finish cooking in the fire. I also used some canned green beans. You don't need to cook those at all beforehand.

Preparation:
There's a method to building your tin foil dinners. You want to put the items with the longest cook time on the outside and the more tender, faster cooking items in the middle. Here's the order I stacked mine: potatoes on bottom, then carrots and onions, then green beans, and the hamburger patty on top. Tear off 2 good sized pieces of heavy duty tinfoil. Spray the top piece with a bit of cooking spray, then layer your ingredients in the above order. Wrap and seal up the tin foil dinner, then wrap it again with the second piece of tin foil. Repeat for each dinner. That's it! You're ready to go camping. Just place the tin foil dinner in the coals of your fire for about 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally for even cooking.

Okay, I had a question about adapting these for the oven. Here is my best estimate. If you pre-cook the tin foil ingredients, then just throw the packets in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until nice and piping hot! If you don't pre-cook anything I would dice the potatoes very small, like o'brien style and be sure you spray with non-stick spray and I would add some liquid like gravy or barbecue sauce. Then bake them at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until veggies are tender and meat is cooked through. Hope that helps!

Hi Cheryl, thanks for visiting! Here is my best estimate for oven conversion. If you pre-cook the tin foil ingredients, then just throw the packets in the oven at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until nice and piping hot! If you don't pre-cook anything I would dice the potatoes very small, like o'brien style and bake them at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until veggies are tender and meat is cooked through. Hope that helps!

Welcome to Durfee Family Recipes! This is our collection of family recipes, some come from cute girls born with the Durfee name, and some from those of us that have married into the family. We hope you find some yummy ideas and inspiration here on our site. Happy Cooking!